I spotted this recipe in a cookbook during our recent trip to the local library. Shamelessly disregarding a myriad of wonderful French recipes offered with the author’s own twist, my eyes fell on a citrus cake recipe. It was for quatre-quarts, which is French pound cake. I imagined the cake’s aroma. Lemon and orange together. Oh my!

The book got checked out on a whim, brought home, the recipe got bookmarked, the cake was visualized one last time to confirm I had to make it, then I had a sudden urge to bake it. And I did. It turned out just like I imagined. No, actually much better. With a subtle citrusy flavor. Beautiful yellow hue. And fine texture. Oh mon Dieu!

Good bye, October and hello, November! October Links to Reads are here! Top 10. Enjoy! Don’t forget to click on “Read More” at the end for more cool links. * The once eternal life of plastic seems to be coming to an end in France – the country has just banned plastic forks. * Food critics versus Yelp reviewers –...

At a recent book luncheon at Melissa’s Produce, I had the pleasure of meeting chef Katie Chin who introduced us to her newly released book Katie Chin’s Everyday Chinese Cookbook. We sampled a generous array of scrumptious dishes made by Melissa’s chefs from the recipes in the book. Among them were potstickers, spicy beef skewers, Chinese chicken salad, soy ginger...

About a month ago, I hosted an exclusive Azerbaijani dinner in our house for the members of the Culinary Historians of Southern California, following my lecture at the Los Angeles Central Library. My goal was to offer the guests not only a unique dining experience, but also allow them to immerse in the Azerbaijani culture even if it was for...

September is drawing to an end and this month’s Links to Reads are here! Oh what a month it has been so far! Tons of scheduling, focusing, and delivering. I had a lecture at the Los Angeles Public library, hosted Culinary Historians for the exclusive all-Azerbaijani dinner in our house and have been doing cooking classes at home (yay, they...

Hello, friends! Time for August Links to Reads! That picture above was taken in August too, but two years ago, when I was in Istanbul to print the First Edition of my Pomegranates & Saffron cookbook. One day, I had some time to take a stroll in the bustling aisles of the city’s magnificent Grand Bazaar, where walnuts, some still...